COLUMN: Driving everyone crazy

You're sitting in your car waiting to turn onto Washington Street and head up to Grawn Hall for a class you're 10 minutes late for.

The already lukewarm coffee you made has spilled over your leather seats and down your pant leg into your socks and shoes.

Could that freshman with the lanyard around her neck walk any slower across the street?

I've laid out the frustrating scenario, but let me be clear that this is in no way a sob story or a pity party on my part.

Let's say you're on the other side of the windshield, and you're one of the thousands who gets around CMU's campus every day on their own two feet. I'm writing this on behalf of all pedestrians.

Kudos to you guys. Despite the late-night binge drinking or study sessions, you've managed to muster the energy to walk to class every day.

Let's be frank. I'm pretty blind – I can see lights and colors, but that's about it – so I use a cane to navigate around campus.

I do a damn good job of getting around and getting where I need to go, that's for sure. But myself and many others I've talked to think those who drive need another crash course on the basics of doing so.

I'm not generalizing, or at least I'm not trying to.

There are some phenomenal drivers out there, but then there are those people who clearly forgot what the brake pedal was and where to stop.

Speaking of that, if you see a pedestrian crossing the street, do not sit right there in the middle of the crosswalk so they have to walk around you.

It's especially inconsiderate if you do it and you see that person has a cane, for example.

Luckily, I can see enough to know the shadow of your car is there and have the decency to walk around it, but it's the principle of the matter, not to mention its illegality. So please, back up and idle where you're supposed to.

Also, what's all that honking about? Can't we try to be a little more courteous with one another?

There's no reason to get so upset.

After all, if you'd woken up 20 minutes earlier and didn't hit snooze six times before finally deciding today wouldn't be a good day to skip that bio lab, then these kind of things could be eliminated or at least happen far less frequently.

Let's all calm down and try that whole patience thing.

As a society we're all too rushed, but we need to take into account those around us. We'll feel much better and help keep our stress levels in check.

We all have enough to deal with, what with classes, jobs, extracurricular activities and the occasional midnight beer run.